Think it’s impossible to be happy at a job you can’t stand? Think again.

So yeah, your job pays the bills, but it doesn’t exactly give you the warm and fuzzies. Maybe you’re working your way up the ladder or haven’t decided which ladder you want to climb – either way, you’re not alone.

According to Gallup’s “State of The Global Workplace” report, roughly 1 in 4 people are “actively disengaged” in their work (meaning they’re unhappy and unproductive, and likely spread this negativity amongst their coworkers).

Even though we’ve always been soul mates, my writing career and I didn’t click until my late twenties, which meant taking jobs along the way to avoid living out of a shopping cart (some soul-crushing, some not-bad-could-be-better). I’m not going to lie: There were days when I was unbearable to be around – so much so, I wanted to break up with myself.

What made it that much harder was knowing there was no sense in talking about it. After all, you’re not “supposed” to like your job. That’s why it’s called a job (and if we all had a nickel for every time we’ve heard this, we’d all retire and there’d be no point to this article). My philosophy is: If you want to find a better job or go after an impossible career, then you should do it. Period. But first you have to survive the job you’re in (you know, without bathing with a toaster).

Here are just some of the strategies you can use to be happy at that pesky job of yours while navigating the minefield of finding your niche:

1. Think of your workday in installments
Don’t look at your workday as an 8-hour, mind-rotting extravaganza. Instead, break your day down into chunks and deal with one chunk at a time. Mindfulness makes the day go that much faster.

2. Decorate your office
Make your workspace a calm and orderly environment. Include items that not only inspire you now, but also cater to who you want to become in the future.

3. Decompress
Confession: I used to smoke (I know, shame on me). While I don’t miss the whole smelling like an ashtray thing, I do miss the ritual of smoking. It was five whole minutes where I wouldn’t multitask, I wouldn’t stress about 50 things at the same time – I would just be. Take “smoke breaks” without the smoking. Find five-minute pockets throughout your day and do something relaxing: Have a coffee, take a short walk, do anything to periodically get away from the unrelenting sense of urgency.

4. Develop a social circle
No matter how cruddy the job, there are fabulous people who are dealing with the cruddiness right alongside you. Form a wolf pack and help each other survive the monotony.

5. Just ask
Are there ways you feel your job could be improved, or tasks you feel someone else would be more equipped to handle? Be honest with your boss and see if you can find a compromise. As much as we might think so, our bosses don’t want us to be miserable (just make sure you phrase your requests by focusing on what’s in it for them, not you).

6. Don’t rush
The ironic thing about rushing is that it takes twice as long to do things than if you were to take your time. Don’t say yes to everything and overextend yourself, but don’t say no to everything and end up feeling even more unfulfilled than you already do. Step outside of your comfort zone just enough to keep things interesting, but not so much you’re overwhelmed. However much you do, always do it well.

7. Accept your coworkers for who they are
No matter where you work, there’s always that one person who makes it impossible to be happy with your job: When they’re there, the office seems that much dimmer. The weather that much cloudier. Even your salad wilts in their presence. It’s tempting to try and fix them, but in letting go of the baggage that makes them the way they are, you’ll find them a lot easier to tolerate (Xanax works too – kidding!). Refuse to let them in your bubble.

8. Create your own incentives
So your boss pulled an “Office Space” and now you’re stuck working the weekend. Use the overtime money to buy yourself something pretty. That’s an order.

9. Reframe how you look at your job
Take the things you don’t like doing, and think about how they contribute to what you love doing. For example, I can’t stand grocery shopping, but grocery shopping leads to healthy eating, which leads to not feeling like crap, which leads to me being alert enough to write snazzy articles for ya’ll. But grocery shopping on its own, with no clear purpose other than I have to or I’ll starve – well, it gives me hives.

10. Trust yourself
You have full control over your life. Trust in your ability to make your job work for you, not against you. If you know you can do better elsewhere, trust in your ability to find elsewhere. If the odds are stacked against you, trust in your ability to pull a “Jerry Maguire.” You have the survival instincts to make it happen – you just need to use them.

How do you amp up your happiness at work?

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You know a ton of successful people… and you’re not one of them. Here’s the 411 on how to turn things around.

I spent my twenties building an “almost” successful life: My career was “almost” going somewhere. I was “almost” a girlfriend. I felt “almost” happy. But I was always “almost” there, I was never exactly where I wanted to be.

I’d climb the hill of success, get close to the top, lose my footing and slide right back to the bottom. On a subconscious level, I probably sabotaged myself on purpose because all I’d ever known was “almost.” Screwed up, but true.

Does this sound like you?

The same used to be true for Jeff Olson, self-proclaimed beach-bum-turned-millionaire and author of “The Slight Edge: Turning Simple Disciplines into Massive Success & Happiness.” Like us, he was constantly working his ass off yet spinning his tires, exhausted and getting nowhere. Now, he’s insanely successful, and you’re not going to believe what he changed to make it happen:

Absolutely nothing.

I know, right? What was happening to him is what’s happening to most of us: The things he was doing to go from “Failure” to “Survival” were the exact same things that would’ve taken him from “Survival” to “Success” – if he had kept doing them. Like me, the second he hit the survival line the urgency to become successful faded… until he was on the verge of failure again and had no choice but to haul ass.

Successful people become successful because they keep doing what they were doing all along. (Face palm, anyone?)

Here’s the thing successful people know that we don’t:

Success is boring.

We assume success is exciting (like, “The Wolf of Wall Street” exciting), but it’s actually insanely boring.

It doesn’t help that all we know of successful people are highlight reels they choose to share with us. We’re not there with them during the years leading up to their success – we’re only there for the good stuff. It also doesn’t help that success tips are packaged to sound like it’s possible to succeed at the speed of light.

Even if there was an exact formula for success though, you’d probably still fail. As Jeff says in his book, “It’s not the hows that do it, it’s how you do the hows.” His slight edge philosophy can be summed up in three words: Plant. Cultivate. Harvest.

It’s the little things that add up to the big things. The tiny decisions you make daily have a ripple effect. You’ll either skyrocket… or plummet.

Five percent of the population is succeeding and 95 percent are failing. In order to join the ranks of the 5 percent, you have to change how you think about the little things. For example:

You have the option of eating a salad or a burger. You might think choosing the burger is no biggie, and it’s not a big deal right now… but it will be to your tomorrow, since all of those burgers will eventually add up to an unhealthy body. Heart attacks just don’t decide to happen – they happen because of every small health decision you made leading up to it.

The same goes for success: The decisions you make today will have a ripple effect on your tomorrow. But if these decisions are so small and so easy, why aren’t more people successful?

Because it’s just as easy to do it as it is not to.

It’s just as easy to choose a burger as it is a salad. It’s just as easy to watch a TV show instead of go for a walk. It’s just as easy to sleep in as it is to get up earlier and work on your passion project. And for most of us, we make the small, easy decision… to not.

Every decision you make will either elevate you toward success or downgrade you toward failure, and there’s no confusion over which is which. As you’re about to cave and make the crappy choice, repeat to yourself: It’s just as easy to do it as it is not to. I guarantee you’ll put down the remote.

The first small step you should take? Buying Jeff’s book. Once you’re done reading it, you’ll never look back. I know I haven’t!

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Image: Amy Humphries

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